Archive for December, 2012

by / on December 30, 2012 at 7:45 am / in Rock Music, Steely Dan Sunday, Uncategorized

Steely Dan Sunday, “Big Noise, New York” (1993)

<<< BACKWARD (“Confide In Me”) ||| ONWARD (“Down In The Bottom”) >>> *** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX *** Another Fagen rarity, first appearing as the B-side to the “Trans-Island Skyway,” and finally finding a long-player home on the Nightfly Trilogy in 2007. No, wait, it actually first appeared as a Jennifer Warnes recording, on her 1992 disc, The Hunter.

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by / on December 30, 2012 at 7:38 am / in Indie Bands, Progressive rock, Rock Music, Uncategorized

Heroso – Enjoy This (2012)

Blending elements of arena rock, prog and metal, Heroso confounds expectations in the very best of ways. The album opener, called “Act 1,” begins as a tensile, mainstream rocker, marked by a searching riff courtesy of Brian Rohr

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by / on December 30, 2012 at 7:14 am / in Pop Music, Uncategorized

The Archies, DeFranco Family, Ohio Express, others – Bubble Gum Hits (2002)

There’s definitely no lack of compilation albums promoting gooey goodies from the late 1960s and early 1970s, but this particular collection, which I picked up at the Dollar Store, is what I’ve been spinning the refried beans out of

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by / on December 29, 2012 at 3:26 pm / in Pop Music, Uncategorized

2012: Music Writing and the Return of Monoculture?

It seems that many year-end arts and music lists feature a kind of longing look back at the supposed “good old days.”

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by / on December 29, 2012 at 12:00 pm / in Rock Music, Uncategorized

Research Turtles – Mankiller, Part 2 of 2 (EP) (2012)

Brit-styled power pop has been making undiluted rock bouncy and fun since the Beatles and “Can’t Buy Me Love” took the world by storm in 1963. New wave bands that emerged at the end of the 70s such as Squeeze The Cars, The Romantics and The Knack reminded us of why we went apeshit over the Fab Four, The Who [...]

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by / on December 29, 2012 at 8:00 am / in Rock Music, Uncategorized

Bob Lind – Finding You Again (2012)

Flush with beauty and mystery, “Elusive Butterfly” by Bob Lind remains one of the greatest tunes ever to inhabit the airwaves. The track reached #5 on the charts, both in America and Europe, making an instant star out of literate singer/songwriter, who was born in Baltimore, Maryland.

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by / on December 29, 2012 at 7:35 am / in Folk, On Second Thought, Rock Music, Uncategorized

On Second Thought: Pete Molinari – A Virtual Landslide (2008)

Pete Molinari’s second album found him going electric, with spectacular results. This felt more like a debut album than his all-acoustic low-fi Walking Off The Map.

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by / on December 28, 2012 at 7:45 am / in Jazz, Uncategorized

Jeremy Udden – Folk Art (2012)

As one of jazz’s more restless saxophonists of his generation, Jeremy Udden has moved from the “melodic jazz-rock” of his Torchsongs ensemble to the country/folk-inflected jazz of Plainville.

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by / on December 28, 2012 at 7:41 am / in All-Star Lists, Pop Music, Progressive rock, Rock Music, Uncategorized, Year-end Top 10 Lists

Readers’ Top 10 for 2012: The Beatles, Toto’s Steve Lukather, Bob Dylan, Rush, The Monkees, Donald Fagen

In 2012, readers flocked to a boisterous discussion on those times when the Beatles didn’t exactly impress.

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by / on December 28, 2012 at 7:13 am / in Blues, Funk, Indie Bands, Uncategorized

Simon Sullivan – Groovin’ (2012)

You might be tempted to peg Simon Sullivan, a Canadian singer-songwriter and harp player, as a bluesman. And there’s plenty of that to be found here. In the end, though, that would be selling the genre-busting Groovin’ short.

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